


All in the Grip

by Setkia



Series: All in the Grip [1]
Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Character Analysis, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Soul's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 05:21:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15381549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setkia/pseuds/Setkia
Summary: He can read her just from the way she holds him.





	All in the Grip

**Author's Note:**

> I write a lot of Soul Eater stuff, and this is my way of fixing the fact that FF has 3.9k stories for SoMa, but AO3 has less than 1k completed fics for this beautiful couple.

The first time they get partnered up and she takes his hand, he smiles his crooked, jagged-tooth smile and he can tell she's jaded from the way her fingers grip his tightly, like she's trying to break all the bones in his hand in a single move. The grip isn't right because she's scared to let go, it's because she wants to force him to _let go_.

He doesn't.

The first time she wields him as a weapon, he can feel her uneasiness. Her grip is tight, so tight her palms are sweating. If he were to transform right now, one of her hands would be pulling off his arm while the other would be wringing his neck.

She doesn't trust him. He can feel it with the way she swings and attacks. His blade hits the ground too harshly, he can feel the gravel scratching against his skull. She skids too long on the ground. She doesn't see him as a person. He’s just a weapon in her eyes. Or a man. Either way, she has no true regard for either.

Since she can’t match him, he matches her. He steadies his breathing and rides the same wave length as she does. He forces himself to adjust because they can’t fight unless they’re on the same page, and she’ll get hurt if they don’t work together. She may not be willing to try and make this work, but he is, and it’s his job to keep her safe so that’s what he’ll do.

The first time her grip changes, it's because he does something he shouldn't have.

Weapons obey their Meisters. It’s why Wes can’t understand why he’s decided to join. To work for a Meister, to submit to someone else, it all sounds terrible. Well, he's too cool to follow _all_ the rules, isn't he?

It's a simple mission, Lord Death won't give them anything serious, not until they can sync up properly. He knows they’re not ready, Soul can match her and go along with her plans, but she won’t follow him and she doesn’t want to take the lead.

She messes up. Misses a step and he goes clattering to the floor. The Kishin towers over her and before he can think, he transforms back and runs to her defence. He crosses twenty feet in just enough time to stop the blow. He expects it to hit him full force, thinks he's prepared himself when he feels her hand on his arm and he's a Scythe again and she's fighting and it's _brilliant_ and there's something different about her grip this time.

It's still tight, still tense, her palm is still as sweaty as hell, but she's more careful now. He doesn't hit the ground quite so harshly, his blade isn't forced through cobblestone until he dulls. She's being a bit more careful.

It's the slightest change in grip that tells him she's starting to open up.

It doesn’t bother him that she turns her head away, rubbing her arm and mumbles her thanks rather than declares it. She doesn’t like having to admit she needed help, which he gets it. She’s stubborn, it’s why he chose her as his Meister. That she even says anything at all is proof that she’s warming up to him and it’s about damn time.

He tells her that it would be uncool to let her just die like that, so defenceless without even so much as a fight.

She gives him a Maka-chop for it.

It's subtle but now every time he transforms he can feel the difference. She's holding him gentler. Though he still hits the ground hard, she's getting better and the screw ups are fewer in number. She uses him now for support, uses him as leverage and trusts that he’ll hold her up when she’s hanging off a roof.

It's when they're trying to fight a harder Kishin that he doesn't have the time to match her thoughts, to match her heartbeat and way of thinking but they still execute their routine perfectly. 

It's later that he realizes why.

She matched him.

Before when she held him, she was silent. His ears were open, listening, calculating, predicting, but then she starts talking to him. Her grip changes when she talks to him, it's tight as always, but in the way you hold someone's hand when crossing the street, firm, strong, tight and certain. 

She trusts him now.

When she spars against Black*Star, she holds him tighter, but it’s not a bone-crushing grip, more like she’s trying to keep him close to her. Black*Star takes interest in anything that can match his “godliness” and the last Death Scythe ever, well that’s pretty impressive. She’s protective of him.

He appreciates it.

When Lord Death uses him, it doesn't feel the same. Not good, not bad, just different.

He likes being back in Maka's hands.

He gets offers. Of course he does. What’s cooler than being the last Death Scythe? But he turns them down. He knows from their personality how they will hold him and he doesn't like it. She's still rough, still too aggressive, but they've formed a bond and he doesn't think he could perform Soul Resonance with anyone other than her.

It was hard work to match to her in the beginning, he doesn’t want to go through the trouble of having to match himself to someone else. Now, despite how different they are, there’s no adjusting. They’re in tune, they understand each other.

When he goes to visit Wes, something he rarely does, his brother can tell. He asks him how he’s managed to submit, asks if she's bowed down to him instead, and Soul realizes that no one's given up anything to anyone, they've just fallen into sync. 

He's pretty proud of himself for that. It’s cool that he can read her all in her grip.

When she holds him now he can tell she trusts him and since Maka doesn’t trust guys, it’s a pretty big accomplishment, not that he’s bragging. Okay, maybe a little.

He’s not stupid like Spirit, he isn’t going to break that fragile trust she’s given him.

No, he pays her back for her trust and maybe she doesn’t realize it because he’s technically just doing his _job_ , but he works extra hard for her. He’s sharper, he trains a lot, he makes sure they’re always on point so that Soul Resonance can happen at any given time. He makes sure he can match her and now she knows how to match him and they barely have to think about it.

It’s good this way. He likes it.

He shows off a lot, he can admit that. He acts cocky, but he knows he’s inferior to his brother. His brother has the musical talents, whereas his music just sounds creepy. He puts up a brave front, he’s confident, he’s cool, but when he loses faith, (which he’ll never admit to doing) you can barely tell because she picks him right back up.

It’s a give and take relationship. He tries to explain it to Wes; how they’re so in-tune with each other that they barely even have to think when they fight, how he hasn’t surrendered anything, he protects her and she keeps him steady.

She does wonders to his confidence.

And when it comes down to it, he can’t find words to describe their relationship, but he can explain everything in the way she holds him.

And once they’re together, her grip is iron tight, without even the slightest trace of sweat. She won’t let anything pull him from her grasp. He barely hits the ground anymore, she skids carefully and when she falls she trusts him to support her, which he does because he’s cool like that.

And then one day when she holds him, he can tell without her even opening her mouth.

She loves him.

It’s all in her grip.

 


End file.
